Why Does India Withdraw Troops from Indo-Pak Border Area

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 21, 2002

Why Does India Withdraw Troops from Indo-Pak Border Area

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National Security Advisory Board of India on October 16 night decided at a meeting held by the Prime Minister that the 700,000 Indian troops would be withdrawn by stages for re-deployment as they had fulfilled the tasks entrusted to them. The decision was universally welcome by international community as soon as it was announced.

Sources said the withdrawal will help ease the 10-month-long India-Pakistan border tension, it has created favorable conditions for starting negotiations on solving disputes between India and Pakistan in the future.

Since India Parliament Building was attacked by terrorists on December 13 last year, India has persistently held that Pakistan plotted and involved in the incident. The Vajapee administration quickly assembled crack troops on the frontline of the border, applying great pressure on Pakistan and making it seem that fighting in the South Asia Sub-Continent may be triggered at any moment.

However, since the two have nuclear weapons, it is by no means a trifling matter to talk warfare recklessly. Once the flame of war is ignited, the consequence will likely go beyond people's expectations and will run out of control. What's more, although India bitterly hated Pakistan's act of "support for cross-border terrorism", it could not find out any convincing evidence to prove that the Pakistan government was the behind-the-scene supporter of a series of incidents of terrorist attacks .

Analysts said that India's stance taken in the past year, for instance, its deployment of massive forces in the border region, seems to be only limited to putting pressure on Pakistan, compelling President Musharraf to take more severe measures to deal with "cross-border terrorists", it has no intention to unilaterally wage a full-scale war between the two countries.

Ten months have passed, but the deployment of massive forces has not brought Pakistan to its knees. Facts also prove that war is not the only efficient way to end terrorist attacks.

It is not wise for India to continue to keep pressure in the border area, because, firstly, such an act can hardly yield greater results; secondly, the maintenance of large-scale military presence has cost India's 20 billion rupees in expenditure. Moreover, inciting war will get no international support. So India is supposed to find a suitable chance and reason to withdraw "seemingly".

India's withdrawal is not unrelated with a series of matters, such as the victory of Indian National Congress��Indira Gandhi��and Bharatiya Janata Party in the election.

Indira Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party have consistently advocated resumption of India-Pakistan dialogs, they oppose the use of force in solving border disputes, so the victory of the two parties will be conducive to relaxing tension in the region.

People also notice that India does not prepare to withdraw troops from the India-occupied Kashmir.

India vice-premier also expressed that any negotiation on border issue could only be conducted on the premise of stopping all "cross-border terrorist moves".

Although India withdrew its troops, it still keeps high vigilance against "terrorist threat" from the Pakistani side. So the withdrawal does not mean an end to the long-term quarrel between India and Pakistan

By PD Online Staff Li Yan

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